Forget Girls Gone Wild -- the most damaging story to Linda McMahon's campaign may have been the one in Congressional Quarterly-Roll Call last week about McMahon's misstatements on her company's D.C. lobbying efforts.
"Linda McMahon said one thing and did another. The facts and the evidence are clear. She told tea partiers she didn't pay for lobbyists. Official records show she paid more than $1 million for her Washington lobbyists to protect her profits and her interests," said Mindy Myers, who is managing the campaign of McMahon's Democratic opponent, Richard Blumenthal.
"And why did she hire these lobbyists? McMahon was fighting legislation that would have imposed fines on the WWE for continuing to market explicit content to kids, to run interference during a Congressional investigation into illegal steroid use at her company, and to convince the Department of Defense not to pull its advertising from her ultra-violent programming- all measures that would have cut into her bottom line. It's clear that Linda McMahon won't let anything get in the way of her profits," said Myers.
On Sunday, McMahon issued a statement on her campaign website clarifying what she meant.
"Six months ago, during a routine Q&A segment at a campaign appearance, I made the assertion that WWE had not spent lobbying dollars in Washington. This was an honest mistake on my part, but it was a mistake nonetheless, and it's important to me that I correct the record and provide an accurate account.
Over the past 48 hours, I have sought to obtain a full and complete picture of any and all government relations assistance WWE has utilized over the years, WWE has utilized government relations firms to assist on several issues primarily relating to efforts to promote its Smackdown Your Vote initiative to encourage young adults to register and to vote, to facilitate its Tribute to the Troops effort to bring its brand of entertainment to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and to attract armed services advertising on WWE programming.
Several days ago, my campaign, acting on the best-available information it had at the time, made the assertion that WWE 'never sought to influence any particular piece of pending legislation.' In point of fact, WWE did register its opposition to legislation that would have restricted First Amendment rights with respect to programming, and part of that effort was facilitated through a government relations firm.
This unfortunate mistake on my part was not my first, and I am certain it will not be my last. But it's important to me that I set the record straight."